2017 marks the fifth year of its existence, but the fourth year within the Minnesota Section PGA.

The Drive, Chip & Putt competition is FREE and open to boys and girls from ages 7-15. The competitors are split up into eight divisions, based on gender and age: 7-9, 10-11, 12-13, and 14-15. The participants must be no younger than the age of 7 and no older than the age of 15 by the day of the final championship on April 2nd, 2017.

The Minnesota Section will be hosting ten local qualifiers across Minnesota as well as North and South Dakota. In addition to the local qualifiers, there will be two sub-regional qualifiers and a regional qualifier in Minnesota, for those fortunate enough to advance in the competition. The regional qualifier will be played at Hazeltine National Golf Club, site of the 2016 Ryder Cup, two weeks before the prestigious event.

The format of the competition is as follows: each competitor gets three putts, three chips, and three drives, trying to earn the most points in each category. The person(s) with the highest overall score and the winner of the three individual skills will be awarded in the competition. From each local qualifier, the top three point earners in each boys and girls division will advance to sub-regional qualifying. Then, the top two point earners in the boys and girls divisions from the sub-regional qualifiers will move on to the regional qualifier. The champion of each boys and girls division, eight participants total, at the regional qualifier will travel to Augusta National for the championship final.

This is a great way for junior golfers to get involved and gives them an opportunity to compete at Augusta National before the Masters Tournament!

Two junior golfers, Sam Udovich and Kathryn VanArragon, will represent Minnesota this upcoming Sunday at Augusta.

The Golf Channel coverage will begin at 8:00am ET and Emmy award-winning & Sunday Night Football reporter Michele Tafoya will be joining the telecast.

For the full schedule and listings of the 2017 Minnesota Section qualifiers, click here.

The Minnesota Section PGA consists of PGA Professionals who are experts in the game and business of golf. Our mission is to promote the enjoyment and involvement of the game of golf and to contribute to its growth by providing services to golf professionals, the golf industry, people who play golf or would like to start playing golf.PGA Section Offices oversee the 41 geographic regions throughout the United States and provide the grass-roots network for the nation’s 25 million amateur golfers and with the PGA’s 27,000 members.